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New owner : NE Florida

Joined
20 October 2022
Messages
73
After a couple of years of hunting a good one and losing many battles on BaT, just came across a 2005 silver/silver on the open market - where you have time to research, test drive, etc - the old fashioned way of buying a car these days.

Has almost 40,000 miles and a mostly complete service history, but owned in TX and FL so structure is good. Also has a few nicks on lower front bumper and chin spoiler from actually being driven, so I’m not afraid to drive it. It’s been initiated, but still a 3+.

My big non-negotiable was all VIN stickers present, so even though it has some warts, the previous 2 owners enjoyed it and also took good care of it. I suppose anything could have happened but with all vin stickers and clean car fax, that’s the best I can do to feel good about it. Got a PPI at local Acura dealer where I bought it including compression test which checked out along with all audio and A/c controls. Even has working power antenna.

Getting used to entry and exit procedures - it’s a tough one. Wish also I could get the seat lowered about 1 inch, but it’s the price of admission for the experience.

Looking forward to learning.
 
Hey! Congrats and welcome! Your car looks fantastic. I recently purchased a silver NSX on BAT. Maybe we battled!? =)
 
I wasn’t in on that auction. But I remember that car - I was amused that the “departure” video of the owner from the detail shop and the assigned name of the car of slick.

Looks like you got a good deal. Everything good so far with yours?
 
@DA NSX welcome to Prime! Looks like you scored a really nice example and I think you went about it the right way. If the suspension aligns properly on the machine, I wouldn't worry too much about any undisclosed prior accidents. But, if you're super concerned, you could always have the chassis measured at a competent collision shop. The control points are easily referenced in the body repair manual and will tell you very fast if there is a problem. Based on the history, though, I doubt it.
 
DA (or call you the "district attorney" of Silverstone?) - Who is the female walking behind your new NSX?
 
The picture above is from the dealer lot in VA; just some passerbys. This dealer (Callaway Classics) has lots of 60-70s muscle classics and when he took my car out to look for it, people stopped by and wondered what it was.

A bit of history on my car:
1. Sold at Mecum in Harrisburg in the summer. I was anticipating going to the auction to see what I could pull off, but my schedule didn't allow it. As it was, I actually watched the car go across the block on the TV on MotorTrend and I was thinking "I bet I'm going to miss out." And I did. Sold for $120 all-in.
2. Because it was in my area, was able to drive the 9,000 mile 2004 that sold on BaT (one of d-forts cars) to know what a 9,000 mile car feels like and it did feel like new. Lost that battle on BaT when it ended up selling for $172 all-in. Couldn't get there at that amount, but at least I had a good reference point.
3. Frustrated in not being able to find a car on the open market, I just Googled "2005 nsx" and up popped an ad from Hemmings, which led to Callaway who had bought the car at Mecum in Harrisburg.

So, if you want to see the video while it was for sale at Callaway in VA it's here........https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C83Eiarla4

After I bought it, I continued to wander around and found a site where my car had been evaluated at Mecum prior to auction...... you can read about it here........ https://rickcarey.com/mecum-auctions-harrisburg-pa-july-27-30-2022/#comments

After I bought it, the dealer was able to take it for me to Pohanka Acura in Chantilly, where they have some good guys working there who did a great PPI. Ended up with timing belt service (last one I had record of was 2015), shocks all around, new pax side condenser fan (which was inop), truck/engine compartment struts, and a few other small things.

Overall great dealer experience for me, had time to drive and inspect and felt good about the purchase with clean car fax and all VIN stickers present.
 
I wasn’t in on that auction. But I remember that car - I was amused that the “departure” video of the owner from the detail shop and the assigned name of the car of slick.

Looks like you got a good deal. Everything good so far with yours?
Ha ha. Yeah, his departure video made me a bit nervous.

Car has been great so far. I wish i had a reference point as to what a new one feels like to drive, but everything seems to be in order.

Looks like you got a pretty good deal as well based on that Mecum site!
 
Ha ha. Yeah, his departure video made me a bit nervous.

Car has been great so far. I wish i had a reference point as to what a new one feels like to drive, but everything seems to be in order.

Looks like you got a pretty good deal as well based on that Mecum site!
In reality, the 9,000 mile 2004 car I drove was more of those “afraid to drive it” for me. It was perfect in all ways, not a single blemish. Owner graciously let me drive it with him “as far as I want”, but I only drove it a few miles because I didn’t want something to happen to his car that I may not end up winning the bid for. As it turns out, I couldn’t afford the high bid anyway so i at least told myself it wasn’t meant to be. Also IIRC, this 9,000 mile car had sat on display at a dealership for some years and I think there is something to regularly exercising car for seals and fluids - that’s what I told myself anyway when the bids got too rich for me.

I wanted a “driver” anyway - something I can regularly use for 15-20 mile weekly trips and that’s what I got with my ‘05. 40,000 miles in 17 years means the previous 2 owners probably had the same idea. I have turned into the “afraid to drive it” where I check weather forecast before I go out.

Will see how my ownership experience stacks up to what I think it should be (maintenance costs, availability of parts, etc) but I feel my car is in the middle of the spectrum of low mileage garage queen and high mileage daily driver.
 
I know what you are talking about DA NSX. My car had 9K on it when I bought it in late 2010. It stayed in storage at my buddy's place (the seller) until the following spring. Longest winter of my life!! It now sits at just over 22K. Being tucked away for 5 or 6 months every winter, a fair bit of rain during our summers, work prior to retiring, and family stuff, keeping mileage low isn't hard to do.
The car drives exactly the same now, as it did when I drove it home that spring, except I think it pulls harder as time goes on. Our infamous member on here, Hugh believes the engines in these cars aren't fully broken in till 75K. Guess it will be awhile until I find out if this is the case!
 
I know what you are talking about DA NSX. My car had 9K on it when I bought it in late 2010. It stayed in storage at my buddy's place (the seller) until the following spring. Longest winter of my life!! It now sits at just over 22K. Being tucked away for 5 or 6 months every winter, a fair bit of rain during our summers, work prior to retiring, and family stuff, keeping mileage low isn't hard to do.
The car drives exactly the same now, as it did when I drove it home that spring, except I think it pulls harder as time goes on. Our infamous member on here, Hugh believes the engines in these cars aren't fully broken in till 75K. Guess it will be awhile until I find out if this is the case!
How are you managing your tires - how many years for replacement since I’m sure time is the factor more than mileage. I’ve got 3 2016s and 1 2020 on my car so I’ll be looking for replacements soon, but I’d like to try for another year since tread is still way good even though they are going to age out.
 
I would not run a tire past 10 years unless garage queen show car staying all original. Then ideally you have a second wheel tire set to drive..
 
I watched on TV that car cross block at Harrisburg(yoda speak) . Good job getting new shocks. Pohanka is a good place to go.
Get some PPF for the high contact zones . love silver, sebring being my favorite...
 
I watched on TV that car cross block at Harrisburg(yoda speak) . Good job getting new shocks. Pohanka is a good place to go.
Get some PPF for the high contact zones . love silver, sebring being my favorite...
Sebring silver would have been cool for me. I graduated from Sebring High School so it’s cool to see the name on the Honda/Acura colors…. On the Chrysler product, not so much….
 
How are you managing your tires - how many years for replacement since I’m sure time is the factor more than mileage. I’ve got 3 2016s and 1 2020 on my car so I’ll be looking for replacements soon, but I’d like to try for another year since tread is still way good even though they are going to age out.
I wear out a set of rears in 5 or 6K, fronts probably last 8K, Dunlop Direzza Z11s. I should go back and edit my previous post as my current mileage is 20.2K not 22K.😒 It will take me 3 years to get to 22! Your tires should be good for this year if are doing normal street driving.
 
Meant to post these pics at the top of the thread. When I had the timing belt, water pump, gaskets done, I asked the tech to take some pics of the internals when he opened up the top of the engine. They aren’t the best pics but would welcome any opinions of what you can see.

Again, this is an ‘05 with almost 40,000 miles for reference.
CC793D84-6B45-4287-B4F3-009E030205D5.jpeg11DD8837-BB18-4E7F-9448-CBB7E0BB860E.jpeg1D360A28-7DBE-44E1-B44D-DCD6A517E6A3.jpegD43181EB-0F52-4778-8D85-987AE720AEAE.jpeg
 
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